THE BEGINNING:CHAPTER XVII:THE MORGUE

The wailing ambulance returning back to the city, conveyed five men from the wreckage including the driver straight to the health centre following behind four other wailing vans that transported lifeless bodies to the parking lot outside the fenced perimeter of the hospital building where several cars ownedb by medical doctors were neatly parked appropriatelyonkkkkk in their spaces provided by the lane marks giving free room to the ambulances to park at their convinient spot for the medic team to k was iilolmbnnarrive with rolling beds in order to carry the dead bodies finto the building where they will be taken to the morgue room. The driver safely parked the fifth vehicle that had four passengers and a dead corpse at the back of the truck at the parking lot beside a red Chevrolet arriving quite late than the others before alighting the vehicle and went straight to the hospital in order to obtain an iron trolley, returning mbmbbback with it in order to reduce the truckload with the help of a masked nurse including two other security officmbmers who assisted in removing the dead corpse that lay on a stretch bed covered in large sack from the back of the red-striped van down the smooth tarmac before conveying the sacked-corpse into the hospital leaving behind Steven and Joe to watch their backs as they trotted towards the glassy doors after ascending the three stairs until they disappeared from their sight.

      "Be careful getting down fron there, Jim", Steven said looking at the right leg of his partner bthat was wrongly placed on the vehicle beside the alloy wall of the van and stepped forward to aid his partner to alight from the back of truck. Jonas held his stomach with his right palm trying to suppress his rumbling belly and stretched forth his left hand which clasped Steven's hands before jumping down on the macadam beside Joe where he vomitted disposing waste liquid substances through his mouth the neat surface of the asphalt.

        "Eww, that's gross bunnt sorry man. I hope the security guard around here won't punish for that" , Joe said peering around to see if the guard were watching them and returned his gaze to his shoe checking to see  if the murky liquid tainted his black loafers. Jonas had been feeling nauseous ever since they were sitting inside the ambulance beside the sacked body lying lifeless amidst the four men including the male nurse during the journey back to the city and couldn't handle the foul stench of the corpse which surprisingly, didn't affect the others especially the arabian nurse wearing facemask concealing his facial identity from the three agents which protected his nose from the repugnant smell emanating from  the lifeless corpse.

        "Phew, I feel better again. I would suffocate to death if I spend another minute sitting beside that corpse", Jonas said feeling quite relieved from being throttled to death by the foul smell emitted from decayed body that filled the compressed air inside the ambulance.

        "You better prepare your stomach for the next level which I promise you, will not be pleasant and would be far worse than what you just went through", Steven said aiding him to erect his bent torso which he did in order to let out the ghastly liquid and turned around facing the transparent door of the hospital.

        "And what do you mean next level?", Jonas asked feeling quite confused and lost in thought as he wiped his wet lips clean of saliva using  a white hankerchief which he took from the front pocket of his black natty suit.

        "He means that we are going inside the morgue", Joe said looking at the tall building that stood within the fenced perimeter far off away from them.

        "And why is that?", Jonas asked spitting out remnants of murky saliva out of his mouth on the tainted pavement.

          "To get more evidence before the arrival of the police, dumbass. We aren't yet done with the case even though our agencies aren't authorised to investigate the crash", Joe replied gazing at the transparent door of the building standing in front of them at a distance.

"You are right and I remember that the police were seeking a joint investigation with our agency according to that reporter from GBS but you didn't mention anything to us concerning the agency you worked for", Steven asked feeling quite suspicious of the lanky detective that stood beside him peering at his face which displayed no sign of nervousness of being caught red-handed.
"You got me there, mon ami. You're really observant I must say and I'm pretty much impressed right now standing beside a man of with great calibre of being a true agent. I'm actually an undercover agent from FABS with a confidential objective in the case", Joe replied gazing at the doorway of the hospital before he began plodding forwards leave the duo behind who followed behind from the frontal parking lot.
"I don't see any involvement of your agency in this case. Why are you interested in solving this case?", Steven asked keeping up pace with the undercover agent using his long legs to catch up with him while Jonas trailed slowly behind them heading towards the door.
"Sorry mate, like I said it's strictly confidential and that's all you need to know. And base on my perception, I think the agency though it's quite weak on the outlook, it's trying to root out illegal dirty secrets of the Mayor in the country despite the harsh confederal laws operated by the country", Joe said feeling hot due to the heat from the sunlight which compel sweat drops to gob down his cheeks including the duo who accompany him to the doorway that was still far ahead of them.
"And using undercover agents is the best tactical measure they can come up with to carry out their master plan", Steven completed his statement with a sarcastic tone.
"I don't judge their methods and I only follow orders without questioning them", Joe replied wiping off sweat from his face with the back of his palm.
"What if your cover is blown during the investigations won't that spark off a national conflict?", Jonas interrogated feeling awkward walking beside an agent from Federal Agency of Bureaucratic Security renown for their national popularity but lack the true powers which rested in the hands of the state police force under the master control of the Mayors in the confederacy.
" You are right, Jonas but such a scenario will only occur if your blabbermouth discloses my identity to the police", Joe said approaching the flat stairs along with Steven beside him.
"Then your ID card must have been falsified, won't the police recognizes that it's a fake ID", Steven deduced looking at his partially expose ID card that hanged on his waist.
"Pretty much my friend, but not all of them can figure that out and please don't mention it to anybody. And remember I'm detective Joe once we get into the hospital", Joe sternly warned after he had ascended the stairswhispering to the two men beside him as he pushed the transparent doorway open leading the duo inside who followed him to a small queue standing before a fawn-haired female patient coordinator who sat behind a computer at the counter with her natty blue tunics typing in some figures into the system without looking at discontented faces of the clients who stood waiting for hours to identify their deceased ones who had board the wreck aircraft from Summerville to the city. Joe lead his acquainted colleagues to the queue sailing pass the line to the front desk in order to attain quick access to the dead bodies before the imminent arrival of the policemen.
"Hello miss, I'm Detective Joe. Where can l find huh... the autopsy ward?", Joe said displaying his exquisite counterfeit ID card in front of the plain face of the nurse who had raised her head wearily from the computer screen, to look at his ID ignoring the agitated civilians who felt cheated by the security agents but she didn't reply and instead, took the desk phone beside the keyboard dialing a number on it which seems to tell him that it must be the senior consultant in charge of the health center erected by the Medical operatives in collaboration of the Mayor in Greaves.
"Hello sir, some agents are here to have a look at autopsy report which hasn't been been diagnosed yet by Doctor James.... should I ask which agency they are from?", The female nurse questioned holding the desk phone close to her ears using her right shoulder while she kept on typing with her fingers still ignoring the anxious faces of Joe and his crew.
"There's no reason to ask them since they must be from the police force. They actually arrived earlier than expected...send them to Doctor James this instant", the male voice on the other side of the phone call, replied relieving the apprehended minds of the agents that stood before her.
"Alright sir, I'll send them in now", the female nurse replied and hung up the phone before placing it back to its former position. "Take the elevator to the fourth floor and walk through the corridor by your left before turning right to the last ward. There you will find Doctor James in the autopsy room who will inform you about what happened to the deceased", She said and handed a bunch of keys over to Joe before resuming her duty of attending to the clients standing behind the three men. Joe took the keys without wasting anytime and headed towards the elevator walking past four patients in wheelchair with the two NAS agents trailing behind his back to the opened elevator which took them to the fourth floor. They followed the directives of the nurse which took them straight to the autopsy room and unlocked the door before entering inside the slightly dark room and found Doctor James under the flourescent bulb sheerly engrossed in his postmortem having come across some mysterious findings in his examination of the several dead bodies that lay on the raised beds made of concrete. The bodies that lay lifeless on the concrete were twenty five bodies properly arranged at the far end of the room which partially covered with a transparent nylon drapery excluding the remaining corpses yet to be recovered by the police back at the excavation site and a body which have been torn open by the Doctor lay on a steel table glittering under the resplendent light bulb that illuminated the dead corpse of John before the sight of the three agents.